Microsoft InfoPath 2003

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Microsoft InfoPath 2003

• Nick Holland
• Consultant
• Microsoft Consulting Services

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Agenda

• InfoPath - New application within the Microsoft
  Office System
• Create rich, dynamic Extensible Markup Language
  (XML)based forms
• Destination
• Journey

3
Highlights

• Enable information workers to easily gather and
  reuse information as part of a business process
• Familiar Office environment
• WYSIWYG form design
• Data validation
• Built natively on top of XML
• Access to web services from within InfoPath
• InfoPath and .Net

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InfoPath and .NET

• .NET
• Connectivity and integration
• Built on foundation of Web Services
• InfoPath
• Smart client for XML Web services
• Built to work natively with XML
• Connectivity with information gathered using
  InfoPath to business processes and solutions
  using XML and Web services.

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Destination
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Journey

• Concepts
• Basics
• Examples and Demos
• Web services
• Visual Studio .Net 2003

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InfoPath What is it?

• New product within Office 2003
• Gather information
• Efficiently
• Accurately
• User friendly environment
• Design mode
• User mode

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InfoPath - Design Environment

• WYSIWYG design environment
• Preview form
• Data Source
• Collection of fields that make up a form
• Data source task pane
• Bind controls at design time

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Task pane

• Displays the design mode tasks
• Layout
• Controls
• Data source
• Views
• Publish

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Data source task pane

• Representation of underlying structure
• Fields
• Groups

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Design mode - Overview

• Create form templates
• Sections
• Repeatable
• Optional
• Controls
• Display format
• Data validation
• Section protection
• Template published as .xsn file

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Design Mode

• Form creation options
• Blank form
• Template
• Based on data source
• XML schema
• Database
• Web Service
• Familiar interface
• Task pane

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Form components (1/2)

• Create a form containing
• Controls
• Text
• Drop down lists
• Buttons
• Labels
• Hyperlinks
• Check boxes etc.
• Formatting
• Colour schemes
• Font and style
• Conditional

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Form components (2/2)

• Layout tables assist in alignment
• Sections
• Optional
• Repeating
• Repeating Table

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Validation

• Three types
• Basic level
• Based on XML schema
• Defines the shape and data types within the form
• Declarative
• Constraints and rules defined for a control
  (properties for a control)
• Script
• Event handlers attached to XML or COM

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Form design

• Customise a sample
• 25 ready-made forms
• Start from scratch
• Add layout tables, eases alignment
• Add required controls
• From external data
• Structure or data based on existing XML data
  (.xml) file.
• Structure is based on existing XML Schema (.xsd)
  file.
• Retrieve data from, or submits data to, a
  database.
• Retrieve data from, or submits data to, a Web
  service

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Optional Controls

• An optional section is a control that contains
  other controls
• Optional sections are typically hidden from the
  user when they first open the form
• User clicks appropriate text
• User removes by clicking blue arrow and selecting
  Remove text

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Repeating Controls

• Form will not display empty rows or sections by
  default.
• Usually just one row or section and add more when
  and if needed
• There are two types of repeating controls
• Repeating section.
• Controls repeated
• Repeating tables
• Controls repeated in table format

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Conditional formatting

• Control properties
• Define formatting rules
• Visual feedback
• Display tab
• Spell checking
• Auto complete
• Text wrap
• Conditional formatting

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Demo Customised sample
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Demo Customised sample - Recap

• Sample forms
• Task pane
• Colour schemes
• Drop down lists
• Preview mode
• Rich text
• Spell checking

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Sharing the form

• Share templates with others
• Publishing wizard
• Shared folder
• SharePoint services folder
• Web server

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User mode

• Familiar Office environment
• Standard data entry features
• Formatting, spell checking, auto completion,
  validation options specified by designer
• Repeatable and optional sections
• Submit completed form to server, e-mail, export
  to Excel
• Multiple saved forms can be merged

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Submitted data

• Data is saved in industry standard XML defined by
  the customer schemas, therefore easy to access
  and re-use data collected

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Connectivity

• Connectivity via industry standard protocols
• ADO
• XML Web Services
• Web Protocols
• Connect to data sources via XML Web Services
• Create InfoPath forms based on XML schema of XML
  Web Service

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InfoPath and Visual Studio .NET?

• InfoPath has own design mode for form
  development.
• Can save InfoPath form template as individual
  files to work with them in Visual Studio
  development system.
• With Visual Studio .NET can develop XML schemas,
  script code and components that can then be used
  inside an InfoPath form.
• At the end of the development process
• Load the files in the InfoPath design mode
• Publish the form template.
• Can develop in Visual Studio XML Web services to
  be used by InfoPath to exchange XML with the
  server.

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Scenario Business trip

• Trip report in Word
• Trip report for entry into CRM system
• Submits orders to ERP system
• Completes expense report in Excel
• Must retype same information several times error
  prone time consuming

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InfoPath Solution Build

• The InfoPath design environment makes it easy to
  build a flexible form that captures all the
  information
• InfoPath forms have powerful field controls and
  properties, and can incorporate repeating and
  optional sections
• So can capture structured and unstructured (e.g.
  verbatim)

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InfoPath Solution Gather

• Now have one InfoPath form that, even while
  offline, providing a rich authoring environment
  for entering all information accurately
• No longer have to retype the same information
  into multiple programs or systems

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InfoPath Solution Validate

• With support for XML Web Services, InfoPath can
  communicate with enterprise databases and servers
  to help dynamically populate form and validate
  data
• This access to organizational information means
  that the user will always have accurate and
  updated product pricing, client contact
  information etc.

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InfoPath Solution Connect

• InfoPath, with native support for XML, XML Web
  Services, and customer-defined schemas, works
  with existing IT infrastructure
• Enter information once into an InfoPath form, and
  info can be reused to automatically create a trip
  report, update CRM and ERP and submit expenses

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InfoPath Form Template (XSN)
Schema (XSD)
View (XSLT)
Solution Definition (XSF)
Business Logic (Script, DLL)
Default Data (XML)
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Solution components

• XSN
• Cab file
• Form definition package
• XSF
• Solution definition
• XSD
• Schema, data types, basic validation
• XML
• Sample forms
• XSLT
• View definitions
• Rendering / transformation

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InfoPath 2003 OM diagram
Application
Windows
XDocuments
DataObjects
TaskPanes
Errors
XDocument
Window
CommandBars
Solution
MailEnvelope
View
Application lifecycle
XDocument lifecycle
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Programmability

• Document lifecycle
• Open
• OnVersionUpgrade
• OnLoad
• Edit
• OnSwitchView
• OnBeforeChange
• OnValidate
• OnAfterChange
• OnClick
• Submit
• OnSubmitRequest
• Close

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Web Services Integration

• Scenarios
• Can design an InfoPath form as a front end to a
  Web Service
• Can bind a control in an InfoPath form to lookup
  data from a Web Service
• Design mode support
• UDDI based search for Web Services
• Generate schema based on selected Web Service
  call
• Runtime support
• Automatically generate SOAP calls for
  getting/submitting data
• Limited OM access to Web Service call parameters
• Customizable submit for advanced scenarios

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Form based on web service
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Visual Studio .Net XML Designer
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Demo Form based on schema
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Demo Form based on schema - Recap

• Drag and drop
• Schema validation
• Error codes
• Schema design in Visual Studio .Net

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Form created from New blank form
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Summary

• Streamlines the process of gathering information
• Create XML-based solutions for your business
• Can build solutions without custom programming
• Information can be shared within the company and
  externally
• Enable information workers to easily gather and
  reuse information as part of a business process

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Resources

• Office 2003
• http//www.microsoft.com/office/preview/
• InfoPath
• http//www.microsoft.com/office/preview/infopath
• InfoPath help
• Tour